In the spring of 2026, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs adopted Finland’s first policy line concerning the Indo-Pacific region. It reflects a fundamental change in Finland’s security environment. For Finland, the Indo-Pacific region is no longer merely a geographically distant stage for foreign policy, but its maritime routes directly affect Finland’s economy, security of supply, and maritime transport.
As an open export economy, Finland is dependent on international maritime traffic. Although Finland’s maritime transports mainly move via the Baltic Sea, a large part of the components, electronics, semiconductors, critical minerals, and consumer goods needed by Finnish industry first travels along Asian maritime routes to Europe.
Therefore, Finland’s security of supply practically begins at the Strait of Malacca.
The significance of the Indo-Pacific region is based on a few strategic maritime routes through which a considerable share of world trade passes. The Strait of Malacca is the world’s most important logistical chokepoint. Through it pass the energy flows needed by East Asian industry as well as the container traffic between Europe and Asia. If traffic in the strait were interrupted, the effects would quickly also be visible in Finnish industry. Alternative routes, such as the Lombok and Sunda straits, can be used, but they lengthen transport times, increase costs, and burden international logistics chains.
Another key risk area is the Taiwan Area, China Strait. Its strategic significance is based not only on busy maritime traffic, but also on the fact that Taiwan Area, China is the world’s leading manufacturer of advanced semiconductors. A possible crisis would simultaneously affect both maritime transports and high-technology supply chains.
Events in recent years have changed the perception of maritime security. Houthi attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea forced a large part of the container traffic between Asia and Europe to detour via the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. This extended transport times by several weeks, increased fuel consumption, raised insurance premiums, and increased logistics costs throughout Europe.
The Strait of Hormuz continues to form the world’s most important chokepoint for energy transports. A sudden change in the security situation in the Persian Gulf has quickly affected energy costs and the cost structure of maritime traffic.
In international shipping, security risks quickly become visible in practical operations. Route changes lengthen voyage times, increase fuel consumption, raise insurance premiums, and tie up vessels in traffic for longer periods. The effects extend throughout the entire logistical chain, from ports to industry and further to consumer prices.
At the same time, it has become evident that world trade can no longer be examined solely from the perspective of competition between great powers. Regional armed actors are also capable of disrupting international supply chains considerably more than before.
Previously, logistics was examined above all from the perspective of efficiency. Today, it is also security policy. Ports, submarine telecommunications cables, container terminals, logistics centers, and critical maritime routes form infrastructure whose operational capability affects states’ resilience to crises.
At the same time, geoeconomic competition has made supply chains instruments of strategic power politics.
Trade, investments, export restrictions, and logistical dependencies are increasingly used as means of political influence.
From Finland’s perspective, the key question is not whether Finnish vessels sail in the South China Sea, but rather how dependent Finnish society is on the functioning of these maritime routes.
Security of supply is increasingly based on the continuity of supply chains and the management of critical dependencies. This requires diversifying supply chains, developing alternative transport routes, ensuring the availability of critical materials, and strengthening European cooperation to improve maritime security and logistical resilience.
Finland’s first policy outline for the Indo-Pacific region recognises this change. It emphasises economic security, supply chain resilience, and maritime security as part of Finland’s foreign, security, and economic policy.
The Indo-Pacific region is geographically far from Finland, but its maritime routes are an integral part of Finland’s everyday economy. Should a prolonged disruption occur in the Strait of Malacca, the Taiwan Area, the China Strait, Hormuz, or Bab el-Mandeb, the effects would quickly be visible in Finnish industry, logistics, and consumer prices. Maritime security is no longer merely a matter for the maritime sector. It has become a central part of national security and economic security.
For Finland, the Indo-Pacific region is no longer a distant stage of foreign policy, but one of the world’s most important security, economic, and logistical environments. The stability of the world’s key maritime routes is simultaneously a precondition for Finland’s security of supply, economic security, and national security.
Jari Vilén
The author of the article, Jari Vilén, serves as the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ Ambassador for the Indo-Pacific. He was responsible for preparing Finland’s first policy outline for the Indo-Pacific region, which was approved at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in spring 2026. The article is based on the author’s own views.
